With the West Ham United board deciding to make the switch from Julen Lopetegui to Graham Potter this month, the 49 year old has had a mixed opening few games in charge but with our fixtures done by January, the vast majority of fans will be hoping that the whole club turns its attention to strengthening in what remains of the New Year transfer window.
As is typical for this time of year, the speculation rumour mill has already linked the Hammers with a number of incomings, and outgoings – particularly since Potter took charge – as although he did not have everything go his way at Chelsea and Stamford Bridge, his spell at Brighton and Hove Albion left many fans impressed and given we would like to see that replicated at the London Stadium, for those fans who use betting apps a strong transfer window simply improves his odds of doing just that.
With just under a week left now, one intriguing link that has surfaced has Potter interested in a return for a former Amex Stadium charge, namely now out of favour attacker Evan Ferguson. Having worked together previously, it is understood that Potter feels that it gives him a good edge in his capture and he is hoping to lean on that to get a deal through quickly here.
The fly in the ointment is apparently Brighton have not yet decided on whether they want to do a deal and make him available ahead of deadline day, but that is obviously where knowing Potter previously could save a fair amount of time when it came to the negotiations and convincing Ferguson that his future lies with us.
From our point of view, Niclas Fullkrug’s injury gives us issues at the top of the pitch with other players not quite firing this season either, so the capture of someone like Ferguson would certainly ease Potter’s selection headaches.
The 18 capped, 20 year old talent has fallen down Fabian Hurzeler’s pecking order in the 2024/25 campaign, and although he has made 14 appearances for the Seagull’s so far this year, a good number of those have been as an option off the substitutes bench, and naturally because of that his goal return has been poor when compared with previous seasons.
But he remains incredibly highly rated and fresher voices, and new surroundings could be all he needs to get back to his real prodigious best. This could well be a story to watch in the coming few days as clubs make their final decisions for the remainder of the campaign, and should the young talent become available, then we will see what kind of pull Potter may have for him as we are naturally not the only club linked with having an interest.
The usual Premier League clubs are linked, Arsenal, Bournemouth and Everton for differing reasons, but Arsenal would be out on a loan front already as they already have two on their books, and there is said to be some interest from the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen said to be taking a watching brief.
If Potter does have an interest, I would imagine we will soon see claims that we have made contact to see if we could push a deal through, but again, if Potter can get him back to his best this could be a cracking signing for us.
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